Bela Kovacs has been hailed by critics and public alike as the finest Hungarian clarinetist of his time. Not surprisingly, he is one of the foremost interpreters of Hungarian clarinet repertory, particularly the works of
Bartók and
Dohnányi, as well as of contemporary compatriots like Ferenc Farkas, Miklós Kocsar, Endre Szervánszky, and Zsolt Durkó. But
Kovacs is equally compelling in a broad range of other music, including works by
Mozart,
Beethoven, Weber,
Donizetti,
Brahms,
Ravel, and countless others.
Kovacs also plays jazz, as evidenced by the perky
Gershwin takeoff for clarinet and piano, After You, Mr. Gershwin.
Kovacs must be credited not only with performance of that work, but he is also the composer of it and has written other works for clarinet, including the Homage to J.S. Bach, for solo clarinet.
Kovacs has mainly recorded for Hungaroton and Naxos, although some of his early performances are available in anthologies on reissue labels like Delta and Laserlight.
Bela Kovacs was born in Tatabánya, Hungary, on May 1, 1937. His first advanced studies were at the
Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, where his teachers included clarinetist and arranger/music editor György Balassa.
The exceptionally gifted
Kovacs became a member of the
Hungarian State Opera Orchestra when he was 19 and still a student at the
Liszt Academy. He eventually became the principal clarinetist and served in that capacity until he left the orchestra in 1981.
In 1961
Kovacs co-founded the Budapest Chamber Ensemble, a group he was active in until 1971. In 1964 he was awarded the
Liszt Prize.
Kovacs joined the faculty at the
Liszt Academy in 1969 and was given a professorship there in 1975. He later taught at the University of Music and Dramatic Arts, Graz, and at the Conservatorio di Musica, Udine. In the 1970s
Kovacs' first solo recordings were issued by Hungaroton. His most important recording from his early years was a highly praised 1976 LP of the
Brahms clarinet sonatas, with pianist
Dezsõ Ránki (reissued on CD in 1997).
He continued recording for Hungaroton, turning out such efforts as the acclaimed 1986
Mozart Concerto for Clarinet, K. 622, and the 1994 Five Movements for clarinet, strings, and harpsichord by Kocsar. In the new century
Kovacs remained active as a teacher and clarinet soloist. His later recordings include the 2005 Naxos CD containing the
Donizetti Clarinet Concertino and other
Donizetti works.